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Tests

             Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)

 

          Before I started really considering this passage, I pulled almost all the plants out of my vegetable garden and started the process of paving it for the summer. It was time. Since I’m so close to heading north, my mood is nostalgic. I had a busy, productive winter full of blessings and opportunities to bless. There have also been trials, some of which I handled well and some of which I didn’t.

          As I consider today’s verse, the thing that I see is that I have a particular, and probably standard definition of “trial.”  A trial is a difficult, unpleasant thing. That leads us  in the direction of Job’s comforters, who saw a trial as proof that one was sinful. But God makes it clear in the book of Job that Job’s trials weren’t because he was wicked. And, the book of Job is not shared with us because Job does a perfect job of facing his trials.

          Perhaps the most important trials that Job faces as the ones summarized at the end of his story. God blesses him with twice as much lifestock and stuff, and as many children as he lost. In other words, yes, difficult times are trials, but so are health, wealth, power, fame, wisdom, knowledge, and all the good stuff that happens. For that matter, the things that don’t happen, or for which we are waiting are also trials.

          When we have stood those tests, we’re promised a crown of life and I suspect we tend to push this off into the distant future. We’ll gain eternal life, and some ornament that is the spiritual version of a gold star for having endured. But over the past three years, I seem to be blessed with a life that almost feels like a crown – or perhaps the better term would be reward. After waiting (seemingly) all of my life, never getting what would be considered a normal life, I’m living. I feel as though I have a long way to go to become what I want to be. In fact, I often feel like I have so many handicaps that I’ll never be anything more than a failure, but I guess I’m like Mephibosheth – dining at the King’s table.

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